Missing Players

Team News

Xavi has been struggling with a knock in recent weeks, and in Barcelona's last 7 games in all competition,s the Spanish pass master has only completed the full 90 minutes once. He was withdrawn after 69 minutes in the Clasico defeat to Real Madrid at the weekend, and although he probably won't be fit enough to play the whole game here, he should be alright to start.

Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez could both return to the starting lineup after making substitute appearances at the weekend, though Pedro is also vying for a starting berth.

Villa, Abidal and Fontas remain absent, while Puyol and Mascherano are both one yellow card away from missing the final, should Barcelona make it.

Roberto Di Matteo is likely to recall the many players he rested for the trip to Arsenal at the weekend - there is every chance that he will select the same eleven that overcame Barcelona in the first leg. That is, however, dependent on Didier Drogba recovering from the knee injury that kept him out of Saturday's game.

David Luiz will definitely miss out with a hamstring injury.

Ivanovic, Cole, Ramires and Meireles are the four fit Chelsea players who are one yellow card away from a European suspension.

Prediction

The pressure is really on for Barcelona. They have lost back-to-back matches for the first time this season - results that have seen them up against it if they are to make it to the Champions League final and also all but handed the La Liga title to Real Madrid. They will be hopeful that their first loss at home in all competitions this season was just a blip and they can return to winning ways in this game.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are unbeaten in 9 games, and have progressed to the final of the FA Cup as well as beating Barcelona in the first leg of this tie. Of course, a trip to the Nou Camp will provide a significantly more difficult test than their other recent games, but given their recent form, and Barcelona's loss to Real, Chelsea will fancy their chances of causing another upset.

Chelsea set out defensively in the first leg of this tie, hitting Barcelona on the counter attack to score the only goal of the game. They will probably do the same again here, but the pitch at the Nou Camp is even bigger and Barcelona are extremely good at stretching other teams in order to create space to play their passing game. They will play with extremely high intensity, pressing Chelsea high up the pitch into giving away possession and hoping to induce an error from their opposition. Barcelona may have lost a couple of games, but there is no reason to panic. They have the best group of players in the world and will have to trust in themselves to get the result they need to make it to the final.

User Predictions

Comments (35)

For those complaining that Xavi received MotM he did great. He had 21 (i think) more passes completed than Chelsea's whole team. That says how influential of a player he was. Although he did not contribute to the score in any way, he still was the main reason the possession was so high and barca dominated the game.

@DarthBlatter - that perhaps outlines the problem with this rating system. The quality and importance of Cech's saves are not taken into account as they are subjective conditions. Perhaps a medium could be found between what the stats say and what we all see

I know we are sad, but I'm sure the players are more devastated.
We have to support them until the very end.
This team does not need to prove itself to anyone.
Today, Chelsea knocked them out, but to me this Barcelona team is most dear.
Move on Barca, and we'll return stronger than ever next year.
VISCA BARCA

Barca is known for breaking the algorithm or just making it look stupid. It seems that defensive effort is not awarded well enough though. Also a Chelsea player should have received MotM. They're the ones who have gone through. It makes no sense to hand Xavi MotM. Barca are the ones who technically lost even if this game ended as a draw.

@Thypot. It's got to be Lampard for MOTM, right?
Also, I think whoscored staff should release their own personal take on the ratings for games like this. Clearly needed, and would give them credibility. They could even take into account the statistical events they plug into the algorithm, so their ratings reflect to a degree what the algorithm values. However, Drogba at 5.4 is insane.

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